


Concerning Trust

by Bluefall



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 20:29:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9842561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluefall/pseuds/Bluefall
Summary: Instead of Mon-El following Kara to the training room in 2x12, it's Alex who seeks her sister out. A brief Danvers Sisters rewrite of the "Kara beats up a pillar of concrete" scene.





	

Kara heard Alex on the stairs, of course, but her sister didn't say anything at first. She just stood there, quietly, watching. So Kara ignored her, kept slamming her fists into the concrete block in front of her until her eyes burned with angry heat and she let loose a final rage-filled kick that knocked it clean in half.

Without turning around, she said, her voice half fury and, much to her dismay, half petulance, “You come to tell me Lena's a bad guy too?”

“No,” said Alex, simply, and Kara, startled, looked over at her.

Alex walked the rest of the way into the room, coming to a stop next to Kara and regarding the broken concrete with the same unconcerned, evaluating expression she used on Kara's form when they trained.

“Solid fistwork, but that was a bit of a sloppy kick,” she said.

“You don't think she did it?” asked Kara, ignoring the criticism, hating the hope in her voice.

Her sister met her eyes. “The DEO, it isn't a job that leaves a lot of room for speculation or trust. We operate on verifiable fact, on what we know. And what I know is that Lena stayed to fight Corben when she could have run to safety, and she turned on her mother and saved J'onn's life at probably a pretty steep emotional cost, and we live in a world where clones and mind-altering rocks and alien shapeshifters can make the good guys look like bad guys at any time.

“But I _also_ know that she's putting an alien detection device on the market, and she told you America was a country of humans, and she's probably smarter than any two people in this building put together, so if she's running a long con we're not going to see any evidence until it's too late. And I can't afford to ignore _any_ of the things I know, good or bad, no matter how I feel, and neither can J'onn.”

Kara scoffed and turned her back on Alex again, anger turning the noise into a growl and flaring her vision into a beam of furious white heat that seared into the remaining stub of concrete. In seconds, it glowed and shattered, spraying boiling limestone shrapnel across the training room floor. 

Alex stepped forward, put a gentle hand on her sister's shoulder, and said, softly, “Kara.” 

Kara tensed under Alex's fingers, but didn't move, didn't try to break away. She'd already broken too many things around Alex, electronics, furniture, toys, _bones_. She owed her sister better, owed her honesty and trust, not churning anger.

And so she swallowed, and said, low and rough, “After the red kryptonite.... James didn't want anything to do with me. Everyone was so scared, even Cat, she said she forgave me but it was weeks before she stopped standing on the farthest corner of the balcony whenever I was there. And that's fine, that's fair, it's okay she was afraid, she _should_ have been, how could she not have been?”

She didn't give Alex a chance to utter the reassurance that was obviously on the tip of her tongue, instead turning and putting her own hand on top of her sister's, a physical emphasis on the urgency in her voice when she continued, “But you didn't care, Alex. I hurt you, _so badly_ , and you didn't _care_ , you weren't afraid. You're never afraid of me, even when you should be. You always believe in me, even when I don't believe in myself. 

“And Alex... I _need_ that. I didn't know how much until it felt like I was losing you, but I can't be Supergirl, I don't know if I can even be Kara Danvers without it. My whole life, no matter how alone I felt, no matter how much of myself I had to hide, no matter what anybody else said to me or what went wrong or how badly I screwed up, I knew you were still there for me, that I could always go to you and you would always fight for me, and I don't know who I would be if I didn't have you.” She looked down. “Someone terrible, maybe.”

“No,” said Alex, quiet, firm, conviction as strong and unyielding as Kara's alien skin. “Never.”

“Maybe!” shouted Kara, pulling back with a single violent shake of her head. “Maybe I would! That person the red kryptonite made me, she didn't come from nowhere. That's all inside me. All the time! If I didn't have anyone to trust, if I ever thought I was totally, completely alone –”

“ _Kara_.”

“I can't do that to Lena!” She was shaking; Alex had closed the distance again, had both hands on her shoulders now, grounding her, and she quivered under them. “I can't leave her all by herself with her name and her family hanging over her while everyone else calls her a monster. She didn't do it, Alex, she _wouldn't_ and _no one_ believes her, no one is on her side, she doesn't have anyone to fight for her –”

“She has _you_ ,” said Alex. “Kara, she has you. I'm not asking you to turn on your friend, okay?” Her eyes were dark, her voice earnest and intent, and she tightened her grip on Kara's shoulders. “I'm not. I can't be the one to trust her, but _you're_ not me, and I would never want you to be, ever. You're a good person, the _best_ person I've ever known, you see the best in everyone, and people want to be their best selves around you. If there's anyone who can keep Lena from going over the same edge that her brother did, it's you, and I would never tell you to abandon her.”

Kara tried to steady herself, taking deep breaths, hanging on to the solid presence of her sister, the warmth of her concern. “James said that Kal tried to save Lex, too.” 

“Clark Kent is no Kara Zor-El,” snorted Alex, before grinning suddenly. “I mean, have you seen the man try to rock a skirt? He does _not_ have the legs for it.”

“Alex...” said Kara, but she smiled too despite herself, her whole body loosening, finally, and Alex, feeling the change, relaxed her grip, her hands sliding down Kara's arms and turning fierce support into casual familial affection.

“Don't get me wrong,” Alex said, “I worry for you. I don't want you to be hurt like he was, and I know how easily it could happen. But I know my little sister and her enormous heart. It would hurt you more not to try. And for what it's worth, I hope you're right about Lena, I really do.”

“I am,” said Kara, but for the first time since Maggie had showed up in Lena's office, it didn't feel like shouting into the wind, desperate and futile and isolating. It just felt true.

And Alex just smiled, easy and calm, and said, “Either way, remember that you're definitely right about one thing. I _always_ have your back. Okay?” 

“Okay,” said Kara, and pulled her sister into a grateful hug. “Thanks, Alex.”

“Always,” said her sister, and squeezed back, like she always did, hard enough that even Kara could feel it.


End file.
